The Greatest Thing
by Suntastic
Summary: Katharine6930 is unhappy that she is unpopular and friendless, cause she is a moehog. She befriends the cool new girl, MichelleMarie, which instantly makes Kat popular. But in the end, Kat realizes she'd rather be happy with 1 friend than sad with many.
1. A Day, Kat's Way

** A/N: First of all, I don't own Neopets. Secondly, I started writing the first two chapters in 2004, when I was 10 years old. Those were edited by my 11 year old sister, so sorry if there are any spelling mistakes or anything… I don't have the time to fix them at the moment. I'm now 13, and I feel like completing this story. I'll be writing others, but not about Neopets, and trust me, this story is very good… in my opinion, haha. Very dramatic, and it is better than it may sound at first. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! R&R, I take the good and bad comments. And suggestions for the story are always welcomed, of course. I won't really be doing any more "Author Notes" throughout the rest of the chapters. Also, I'll try to write a chapter a day. When I'm finished, I'm sending the story to the Neopian times. Hopefully my story makes it in! Lotsa love to my readers!**

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In the Neopia Central Elementary School Gym, Mrs. Skye, a yellow Kau, a.k.a. the gym teacher, addressed the children with her deep booming voice. "Today, we will be playing a nice, traditional game of Gormball! Kally and Rico, you two will be captains, so pick your teams." KrystalMoonKally09922, a Faerie Gelert, grinned proudly and announced, "I pick Cheryl, Maxine, Meri, Kei, Konala, and Alex." Like usual, the teams were divided boy against girl.

RicoInvincible (Rico), a Halloween Meerca, smiled self-centeredly, showing his ivory white fangs. "Bob, Nick, George, Ronald, Kyle, Peter and, um…" He stole a glance at a moehog standing sadly by the wall. "Uh, that's it."

Mrs. Skye looked at the purple Moehog that was left. "Even teams. Kat, you will just have to sit this game out. _Again._" Mrs. Skye muttered the last part of her sentence and handed Kat a lollipop before going to start the game.

Katherine6930 sighed. No one liked her only because of her species. She was the only Moehog in the school, making her situation even worse. Well, actually, there was another Moehog in school, but he was male, and ever since he'd gotten a Cloud Ixi Morphing Potion, his social status had shot up. Kat's family couldn't afford those kinds of things. She had no friends, and she got bad grades in school because of it. Her parents often had long conversations at night about Kat's future.

After 30 minutes past, the energy-filled game of Gormball was over. The kids walked by Kat snootily, all drenched in water. The bell rang, and Mrs. Skye dismissed the class. Everyone ran out the school building yelling and screaming while Kat lagged behind.

Kat opened her Neohome's door, 1337 Money Tree Boulevard, and trudged in.

"Heya, Kat!" Mrs. Petunia Hog, a Faerie Moehog, greeted Kat the minute she stepped into the house. "How was school?" Mrs. Hog looked up at her daughter from the table.

Kat shuffled her feet awkwardly.

"Fine, I guess." She shrugged.

Mrs. Hog knew Kat didn't mean what she said. She sighed pointedly, but perked up a minute later. "I made some cookies with your sister, want some? Your favorite, chocolate chip!" 0oMargareto0, a Pink Moehog, grinned from her chair, and cookie crumbs fell from her mouth.

"No thanks, Mom, um…I have homework..." Before Mrs. Hog could say any more, Kat ran to her room and slammed the door, crying silently. Margie (0oMargareto0's nickname) looked startled for a moment, but then grabbed a cookie and crunched it with her mouth open, spraying cookie crumbs all over her bib.

A few minutes later, Mr. Hog, a Halloween Moehog, arrived from work. He was a scientist – he tried to make new, more efficient and inexpensive medicines for different diseases.

"How was work, Marshall?" Mrs. Hog asked, cleaning Margaret up.

"Wonderful, Petunia! I may have discovered one medicine to cure every single known disease!" Said Mr. Hog cheerfully.

"Bless Fyora, we could be dirty rich!" cried Mrs. Hog.

"It hasn't been tested yet, though," Mr. Moehog replied, "I only know that it could cure every disease because of the chemicals and ingredients and all those fancy formulas. It just needs to be tested by someone."

"Dinner's ready!" shouted Mrs. Hog. Mr. Hog saved his work on the computer and came downstairs to the dining room. Margie was sleeping, so she wasn't at the table. Kat practically _flew_ to the table, relieved to be distracted from her math homework. She was very hungry, since she had given up her lunch money, 20 neopoints, to sit at the table where the cool neopets sat for five minutes. They didn't even look at her.

"Boy, Kat! You seem like you could eat a herd of Kaus!" exclaimed Marshall Hog at the dinner table. He stared as Kat ate every single scrap of food laid on her plate, which was unlike her. Usually she just ate half her plate and left the rest for the next night's dinner.

Kat shrugged, and said sheepishly, "I am a growing girl, I guess."

After everyone finished eating, the Hogs watched **Neopia's Funniest Videos **on TV to cheer the family up. After an hour full of laughs, Kat went back to her room to finish her homework. She couldn't concentrate. Her father was still laughing like crazy about the funniest video that won 500,000 neopoints. Kat wished it was her family that had won the neopoints, but her family didn't own a video camera. She looked up to the ceiling for a few moments, then back to her unfinished paper. The remaining problems were:

**20x9  
63+123  
66-54**

**81/9  
**

Kat gave up and wrote zero for all the answers though she knew zero wasn't the answer to any of them. She changed into her PJs and flopped into bed. '_Maybe it's my dad,'_ she thought. '_I wish my dad was like Agent 00 Hog. Maybe his job makes me unpopular. Or maybe it's just me. Maybe I need to start helping out the family. Maybe…' _Her thoughts were interrupted by her drifting slowly to sleep. She knew the next day would be as dreadful as the last, if not even worse.


	2. The Rainy Morning

Next morning. Wednesday morning. Be Miserable morning. Kat woke up off her bed on the wooden floor to the sound of her mother vaccum cleaning the kitchen. It was 16 minutes to 8' and she was going to be late, as usual. She walked awkwardly to the kitchen with a grin.

"What are you so happy about?" Mrs. Hog said smiling, but frowning as Margie suddenly puked on the floor. "Nothing.." She said. But she really was happy because she had one of the dreams that she was popular again. Mrs. Hog didn't ask, even if she knew it was something. She had more troubles to deal with already. Kat sighed. "Well, if you really wanna know-" She was interrupted. "KATHERINE6930 HOG. IT IS 5 MINUTES TO 8 AND YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR PJS. I DO NOT SEE AN EXPLANATION." Kat zoomed into action. Nothing was more horrifying than the full name.

By the time she was at the bus stop, the bus was gone. Her mother had went to drop Margie at her friend's house. She couldn't believe that her little sister has friends, even if shes an annoying baby, when someone like her doesn't. Kat is very embarrassed about this. She decided to walk to school, instead of using a pay phone to call her mother, to save her humiliation. She started to walk up the street when it started to rain. "WHY ME." Kat cried to the sky. "WHY!" She also realized she had forgotten her math homework. She cried and cried until she gave up walking, it was turning to be such a storm, her tears mixed with the pounding raindrops. She had to sit some where. Under a tree. She felt so much like a loser that she wanted to die on the spot. Then people would cry for her and put flowers next to her grave. And would hit themselves for not treating her right in the first place.

After what seemed like 50 minutes, two huge lights came into distance. The came closer and closer. Kat saw 2 figures in the cars. They wizzed by and the 2 young gelerts stared at her. Kat covered up her face. it was still raining, and she was hungry. She had an apple. So she bit into it and another car came into view. 4 figures were in the car. One in the front seat, and 3 in the back. "Great, they probaly have children that are going to open their windows to laugh at me." Kat mumbled. "Then they would spit expensive chocolate at me, not caring because they are rich and can buy more." The car wizzed by, and Kat kept on munching her apple angrily. But then the car reversed back. _Huh? _She thought. A window opened. _Oh great they forgot to spit. _But a faerie poogle about 28 years old appeared. Kat stared. "Need help?" She asked. The kids in the backseat unbuckled their seatbelts to see the young uglified moehog soaked, and holding an apple core. "Well.." Kat glared at the children then back at the poogle. "I cant talk to strangers."

"I can help you if you help me." Said the poogle.

"What do you mean..."

"You are in Neopian Elementary School Right?" She asked.

"Yes.." Kat said starting to get the point. "We have just moved here and need directions. my daughter is attending that school." An island kacheek in the back waved. Kat smiled. "I can direct you if you will drive me there. I am about 2 hours late." The poogle and all the children smiled. "My name is Miss. Lunar." Miss. Lunar said opening the front door. Kat climbed in. She had just realized that Miss. Lunar's daughter was the same age as she was. With some hope, she could finally have a friend and would shove the word in Margie's little baby face.


	3. What's Going On?

Miss Luna put a towel around Kat when she climbed in. Then they drove silently apart from when Kat was telling Miss Luna where to turn and such.

"Left, and you keep going ahead. Then, you go left again if you want to go to the parking lot." She said as Neopian Elementary School came to view. The storm started to clear up.

"What is your name?" Ms. Luna asked as she turned in the parking lot.

"You can call me Katherine or Kat."

"I'm Michelle, but call me Shelli!" said the island kacheek in the back, suddenly.

"I think I would have to phone your mother about this." Miss Luna said, while driving down the splish splashy road. "And do I make a right here?"

"NO! My mother would have a field day!" Kat shouted. "And no… you keep going straight ahead, till the streetlight, and then make a left."  
"But she has to know." Miss Luna said, while following Kat's directions.  
"I know but-" Kat tried to negotiate.  
The little pink kacheek giggled when Kat said "but".

"Lacey, you're so immature." Shelli said while rolling her eyes. The other little kacheek, looking identical to Lacey, stuck her tongue out at Shelli.

"Stop fighting, girls." Miss Luna said angrily. They shut up.

"Besides," Kat changed the subject, "How would telling my mother help me at all?"

"Yes, it won't help you. But I think your mother would like to know why you were late for school today." Kat sighed, as she gave up trying to convince this lady. She got out of the car by the front of the school, since Miss Luna was going to park her car later, in the parking lot.

"C'mon girl, it won't be as hard as you think." She winked at Kat, and drove the car to the parking lot. _Ha, yeah right._ Kat thought to herself. Shelli waved at Kat through the window, with a warm smile on her face. Kat awkwardly waved back.

Finally, into NeoSchool Kat went. After signing herself in late at the office, she walked towards her classroom, with a pink pass in her hoofs, as Miss Luna and the three kacheeks walked into the office. _What a morning. _Kat thought. _I wonder why those neopets are here, anyways._ She turned the doorknob of the door to her classroom, walked in, and slid into her seat while the teacher was still facing the blackboard. It wasn't like she realized she had been late anyway, so she wouldn't need her pass. Not a surprise.

Kat's teacher, Miss Cook, had been teaching fractions. Math was one of Kat's worst subjects. But, whatever Miss Cook was writing on the board, was obviously very important, for she covered the parts showing, with posters in the classroom. Kat didn't pay attention to what her teacher was doing, and just listened into conversations made by other students.

"Did you hear about the new girl?" She heard Cheryl whisper to Maxine.

"Yeah, she's an _island_ kacheek_!" _Maxine replied"I bet she is going to be super cool." She smiled, displaying her rather large Tonu buck teeth to the world.

"What are you talking about?!" Kat hollered, all of a sudden. First, the car ride, and then it may be possible that Shelli would join her class? _Too_ Lucky. These sorts of things never happen to Kat.

"EXCUSE ME!" Miss Cook shot her menacing Grarrl eyes towards Kat.

"Party pooper…" She heard Cheryl mumble.

Kat was embarrassed. She sank in her seat.

"I thought so..." Ms. Cook growled, and kept writing something on the board. It was then Kat realized something fishy about the thing Ms. Cook was writing on the board. Hoping it wasn't a really long math problem, many different thoughts raced through Kat's mind like lightning. She was so out of tune with her surroundings, she didn't even notice the little chitchat conversations going on around her, or the paper planes and spit balls taking flight.

She snapped back into reality when Miss Cook cleared the posters blocking the board. It was most magnificent, wonderful, beautiful thing Kat's eyes had ever seen. It was like candy to her eyes. The chalk's smell drifted through the room tingling up her nose. The texture was so real she could almost feel the colors rubbing her hoofs. It was a welcome sign, for whom other than… Michelle Luna.


	4. The Cool New One

"YES"! Kat wanted to scream. But due her past experiences, she just held her mouth wide open and pretended to scream with no sound. A few neopets shifted away from her. Kat didn't mind. For one time in her life she felt like a 'somebody' She had met the girl that everyone was talking about. This girl could make her cool if she hung out with her! She just wished she got to be Shelli's Guide for her first week of school. Suddenly, the door opened. The girl walking in caught the attention of all the students in class.

"Wow, she looks so cool." Cheryl said, dumbfounded. Boys' minds raced. As they saw how pretty this new girl was, they gained a crush at first sight. Maxine, a faerie Krawk, used to getting a lot of attention from the guys, shrugged off Cheryl's comment, after seeing the reactions to this new girl. "She's not _that_ amazing."

It seemed as if the world had been put into slow motion, as Shelli glanced at the room full of gawking students, and with a little smirk, walked confidently to the front of the room.

Miss Cook smiled warmly to the new girl. Miss Cook _never_ smiles. "Would you like to introduce yourself, dear?"

Shelli nodded. "Uh… hey everyone! My name is MichelleMarie, but most people just call me Michelle, or Shelli. I used to live in Mystery Island, and I love it there, but my family had to move to here in Neopia Central, and I think I'll like it just the same."

_Does she even notice that we're in the same class? Or maybe I'm just that invisible... _Kat thought.

"Okay, now that we've gotten acquainted, you'll need a guide." Miss Cook said. "Any volunteers" Almost all the girls raised their hands to be Shelli's guide, including Kat's. But as always, the teachers were always biased, and had to pick the prettiest, most popular neopet of the class.

"Oh yes!" Maxine beamed. She skipped up to the front of the room, where Shelli was, and gave her a big hug. She looked a lot more enthusiastic about Shelli than she was before.

_Oh no! _Kat felt horrible. _Oh my god, why did this happen! Stupid Maxine will probably turn Shelli into one of her mindless followers! Like she needs any more friends… Oh lord, why did you let this happen to me???_

"Don't worry, I'll tell you everything you need to know about this school." Kat imagined Maxine whispering to innocent Shelli. "Starting with that moehog girl."

"Her? Oh… I met her this morning. My mom gave her a ride to school when she missed the bus."

"Haha, how pathetic. Don't hang around her, trust me. Total loser!" Shelli would be a little hesitant at first, but soon would agree with that little devil, and the friendship between her and Kat would be over before it even began.

Fortunately, that is not what really happened. After greeting Shelli, Maxine sat back down, proud of herself.

"MichelleMarie," Miss Cook began. "I hope you like our school. Now, you'll need a place to sit…" She looked around, and found no free desks. Though, one of the students, Daniel411, who happened to be almost always absent, was, not surprisingly, absent that day. "Since Daniel isn't present, I guess you could sit in his seat for today, till we can find another for you."

Kat smiled awkwardly. Daniel's seat was right next to hers, in the back of the room. Shelli walked her way to the back, dumped her backpack on the floor next to her desk, and took her seat. She still hadn't noticed Kat yet, and began to unpack the things she needed from her backpack. Kat fidgeted with her fingers. Should she say hello first? Or should she just wait for Shelli to notice her? She pondered about what to do, as Miss Cook got out her assignment book.

"Now that we are all settled, lets actually start math." roared Miss Cook. "Take out your math homework."

_Crap, Crap, CRAP! _Kat thought. She remembered how she forgot to bring her math homework that morning. And Miss Cook was almost done collecting everyone's homework! So there was no time to improvise. Kat already had suffering grades, and _another_ zero in her homework grade wouldn't help at all. Finally, Miss Cook made it to Kat's desk. The moment of truth…

"KATHARINE6930, YOU'VE FOGOTTEN YOUR HOMEWORK _AGAIN_????" Miss Cook growled. Of course, this had to be the _perfect _time for Shelli to actually notice Kat's existence.

Ashamed, Kat avoided the eyes of her classmates and teacher, and nodded. Tears formed in her eyes. _I hate myself._ She thought.

"This is the second time this week!" exclaimed Miss Cook. "One more time, and I'll have to call your parents!" the words stung Kat right in her heart. She felt like she was such a burden to her parents. She didn't want another phone call home… her parents acted like her issues were no big deal, but she knew they were still hurting inside. Kat felt like she was a terrible daughter.

Miss Cook shook her head disappointedly, and then went to the front of the room to drop off the homework to be graded on her desk, and start the day's lesson. Kat still held her head low and tried to shut out the sniggers and whispering from her classmates. Suddenly, she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. Kat looked up from her desk to find Shelli, with a warm, genuine grin on her face.

"Hey, it's cool how we're in the same class together, Kat!" she said.

"Um… yeah," Kat muttered, shyly. She was still trying to recover from her embarrassing moment before.

Shelli noticed this. "It's okay… you know, about before. I'm not a perfect student either."

Kat wiped her teary eyes. She felt a whole lot better, now that she knew that Shelli didn't care about her situation before. "Thanks," she said, and cautiously formed a smile with her lips. "Thanks, a lot." Maybe things would look up after all.


End file.
